Creamy, hearty Corn Chowder with BACON!! My two little effortless tips that take this up a notch is to use the bacon drippings to make the soup base, and toss the used corn cobs into the broth to infuse it with extra corn flavour. This soup is guaranteed to warm your soul and get your taste buds dancing!
Corn Chowder
I’m a sucker for creamy soups in any form. In fact, I’m yet to come across a creamy soup I don’t love. Hmmmm…..that statement sounds somewhat awfully familiar.
I’ve written that here before. Oh, that’s right. I say the same thing about cheese. Umm… and potatoes.
This website would be a very different place indeed if I also said the same thing about salads. 😈
There are corn chowders, then there are corn chowders. A couple of years ago, I shared a quick ‘n easy Corn Chowder using leftover Christmas ham and frozen corn. This one is a teeny step up from that in terms of effort, and it’s totally worth it because it’s extra corny and loaded with extra flavour.
Here’s my tip: Use fresh corn and use the corn cobs to make a simple extra-corny broth. OH – and cook the bacon first and use the bacon drippings to make the soup base (i.e. sautéing onion and garlic then making a roux that thickens the soup).
This method of infusing the soup broth with the corn cobs (also used in this Cold Corn Soup) is a tip I picked up from Kenji at Serious Eats, The Best Corn Chowder Recipe. Kenji says this, Kenji says that, Kenji’s tip for this, Kenji’s tested that… his name gets thrown around quite a bit in the RecipeTin family. While I’m pretty sure none of us has actually made any of his recipes exactly as written, we find his food-science approach to making the “best of the best” (like crunchy fried Chinese chicken that stays crunchy) or why it’s impossible to do this-or-that in a home kitchen (like truly charring noodles the South East Asian way) interesting reading, and are sometimes able to pick up tips that we can actually use in our normal day to day cooking.
Infusing the broth with the corn cobs is one such technique. 🙂
Now, I must confess something. Well, 2 things. The soup you see in the photos is cleaner than what you will see in the video. I usually make this with sprigs of thyme to infuse the broth. When I made the recipe video, I only had a few shrivelled up brown sprigs so I opted to use dried thyme instead rather than doing yet another run to the grocery store, so the soup broth is speckled with thyme leaves.
Having made that decision, I proceeded with the recipe video. Got the step where I was to toss in a bay leaf…. and realised I was out of bay leaves!!!
So… that bay leaf you see me plop into the soup is actually….. errr ….well, it’s a kaffir lime leaf. I fished it out as soon as I stopped recording!!!
These are not deal breakers though. Dried vs fresh thyme sprigs is just about aesthetics, and the bay leaf does add a subtle hint of extra flavour but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t have it.
Just don’t substitute with kaffir lime leaf!!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Corn Chowder with Bacon
Ingredients
Corn (choose one)
- 4 ears of corn
- 4 cups / 750g / 1.5 lb frozen or canned corn , drained
Soup:
- 1 tsp butter (or oil)
- 250g / 8 oz bacon , chopped
- 30g / 2 tbsp butter (use 3 tbsp if bacon is lean)
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 1 small onion , diced (or half large onion) (yellow, brown or white)
- 5 tbsp flour
- 2 cups chicken broth , low sodium
- 3 cups milk (I use low fat but full fat will work too)
- 600g / 1.2 lb potatoes , cut into 1 cm / 2/5" cubes (about 2 large)
- 2 sprigs of thyme OR 1 tsp dried thyme
- 3/4 cup cream (Note 1)
- 3/4 cup shallots / scallions , green part finely sliced
- Salt and finely ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut the corn off the cob. This is how I do it: Place a small ramekin in a large bowl. Place corn on the ramekin then cut the corn off. See video. Keep naked cobs.
- Place 1 tsp butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until golden. Use a slotted spoon to remove onto a paper towel lined plate. Leave fat in pot.
- Lower heat to medium high. Add 2 tbsp butter, once melted, add garlic and onion. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes until onion is translucent.
- Add flour and mix it in. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
- Add broth, milk, potatoes, thyme and bay leaf. Break naked cobs into 2 or 3 and add into the liquid. Put the lid on and simmer for 25 minutes (adjust heat so it's simmering energetically but not bubbling like crazy or super gently).
- Remove lid, remove corn cobs. Add corn and cook for 5 minutes or until cooked to your taste.
- Stir through cream and 3/4 of the bacon and shallots. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and garnish with remaining bacon and shallots.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More creamy soups
LIFE OF DOZER
Nowhere to be seen when I was cutting the corn, made an appearance when the bacon was cooking. (PS I shot this recipe pre Cindy Crawford beauty spot in the photo I shared last Friday a.k.a smudge of permanent hair colour on his face)
This recipe got rave reviews for dinner tonight, with grilled cheese sandwiches on the side. Added a pinch of powdered chipotle chili. Tomorrow will likely be last BBQ of the summer (burgers, with potato salad and grilled corn), but other cook in the family (who, weirdly, doesn’t BBQ), is suggesting we scrap the two sides and have the chowder instead… he was THAT impressed!
Yum! I’d never had chowder before and really enjoyed this. I was a lil bad and added a smidge of grated cheese on top, it was like a baked potato soup. Didn’t add cream, it was perfect. Thanks Nagi!
I don’t think you meant 2.5″ chunks of potato based on your pic…I did 1″ and still broke them up a bit more when fishing the cobs out.
Delicious…was worth a trip to see “corn man” at the local farmers market…
Your recipe for Cork Chowder with bacon calls for “shallots/scallions”. I think you mean “Green onions/ scallions”. Green onions are also known as scallions, but shallots are a whole different thing.
This corn chowder is everything and more! So delicious and comforting. I love cheese so I add sharp cheddar on top and mix some into the chowder. I’m glad I found this recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Absolutely delicious for a warm and filling lunch. Served with homemade bread for even more carbs!
Reporting for interest – used UHT cashew milk (what was on special at the supermarket), margarine and cauliflower instead of corn (as the rescued corn was off after all). Subbed the milk for the cream and put a little extra flour to make up for it. Turned out delicious, thank you Nagi! The other half loves creamy soups so this is now going to be a regular in the house through winter esp when I need to finish off some UHT milk!
Hello. Can it be frozen?
This recipe is amazing! It’s delicious and my family enjoys it. I added cheddar cheese at the end. SO good!
It was perfect. Followed the recipe, and got corn chowder perfection. From the potatoes, to the bacon to flavour in the soup. Thank you. I have been dreaming of chowder a long time
This was easy and turned out great. Some things I changed, bc I always do — more bacon of course, an extra potato, thin sliced carrot, 2 diced jalapeños (husband likes kick) and 2 TBS of four instead of 5. Excellent basic recipe to modify as your own. Thank You, Rebecca
Very similar to my recipe which I have been making for many many years. Next time I make it I’m going to add the corn cobs though. I always flavour my chowder with a dash of dry sherry and a dash of worcestershire sauce and use a tin of evaporated milk instead of cream
Whoa, your recipe did not fail me. One word to discribe it, “onolicious”!
Mahalo,
Chuck
This is a seriously delicious corn chowder- full of flavour and a great creamy texture (even though I forgot to add the cream at the end!).
I didn’t have any stock so I substituted in water with yeast flakes which worked provided a bit of flavour without overpowering the chowder.
Thank you, Nagi. Your recipes are sugoku oishii!
I have a friend coming this weekend and this soup will be the perfect lunch with a salad. I have a question-what is a brown onion? Never heard of them here in the states.
Easy to make, very tasty, and great to eat on a cold day.
Such a tasty recipe! I made a half batch and loved the deep savory flavor of all the Thyme. I didn’t use as much butter, only a tablespoon and used more chicken broth and a half cup of milk with just a splash of half and half at the end. Didn’t have the the shallots, so I don’t know what I’m missing there. I’ve made corn chowder but it was too sweet. I don’t like cream style corn – also way too sweet. The bacon and thyme totally balanced the sweetness. I’m looking forward to another batch! Thanks for such a good, easy recipe.
I’m excited that you liked it so much Lamar!! N x
I don’t even bother looking at other recipe websites any more! Just plug in the ingredients I have at home (corn that needed to be used, potatoes and 3 really thick slices of bacon) and I always find exactly what I need and it’s perfect. One of the best soups (Chowdah, Frenchmen, say it! LOL) I’ve ever made or eaten. You are a wonder, Nagi.
I’m happy you liked it Meryl! N x
Instead of the chicken stock I add a packet of Knorr Seafood soup mix diluted with the water from the sieved boiled shells of fresh prawns and a packet of mixed seafood. It turn the whole thing into a seafood chowder which is well received by my Chinese dinner guests. I have to add some green chilies cooked together with the onion for the local taste. A splash of white wine and some cream enhances the taste.